Forsaken
by SummerStarWatcher
Summary: Rose and Scorpius were Head Boy and Girl, and could never get along. Now, they're partners in the Auror department, and Scorpius seems different. Has he really changed?
1. Chapter 1

What a jerk, she thought. What a total, complete idiot. How could anyone survive this long while being so _dumb_?

Not that he was stupid. No, he was quite smart. Always knew the answer in class, always had the spells down perfectly. He was arguably as smart as she was, though his grades were slightly worse.

But despite this intelligence, the boy was really, truly and thoroughly dumb.

They were Head Boy and Girl, so they were supposed to get along. She made an effort to be nice with him, to try and work through their differences so they could effectively keep the school in line.

He made no such effort.

Almost every day, it seemed, they were getting in fights about something or other. One day it was that he hadn't reassigned a patrol as he was supposed to, the next it was that she had done it for him.

"You're always doing other people's work, Weasley! Let me do my own bloody stuff!"

"I _can't_, Malfoy, because if I leave it to you it doesn't get done!"

He frowned and crossed his arms. She put her hands on her hips and glared.

"You're not giving me a chance to do my work. How am I supposed to do it if you've already done?"

She sighed exasperatedly. "And how about all those times when I left you to it and it didn't get done?"

"No such time." He was still frowning at her.

She actually laughed at this. "Malfoy, are you kidding me? What about when we were organizing patrols for December, and you said you'd figure out the ones that fell over the holiday? Jenny nearly missed the train home because she thought she had to be here to keep the regular patrol schedule, because you _didn't organize the special patrols_. Or when the Slytherin prefects were taking turns skipping the occasional patrol, and you were supposed to put a stop to it because they're from your own bloody house? It continued for another month, until _I_ had a talk with them about it."

His frown deepened under her glare. "Look, you don't understand. I have a lot I'm responsible for now, sometimes things slip through the cracks—"

"Malfoy. Don't even give me that crap. We're both seventh years, we play on our house Quidditch teams, we're in all the same classes, and we're both studying for NEWTS. What have you got to deal with that I haven't as well? And you don't see me forgetting important things like that."

"Well, we can't all be Little Miss Perfect, can we now?" He turned and strode towards the door, slamming it behind him.

She waited a moment to make sure he wasn't coming back, then burst into tears and sank to the carpet in their shared common room.

He was so _dense_, that boy. He just didn't understand people at all.

But Rose couldn't help herself.

She was in love with the twerp, had been for years. Somehow, no matter how hard she'd tried, she couldn't make herself forget about him.

It was worse this year, now that they were both Heads together. She had to see him all the time, had to interact with him every day and try to make things work between them, even though it was obviously his goal to make everything as difficult as possible.

If only he would have just the slightest sense that she was a person, too. And it seemed that he did, sometimes.

Which only made things worse. Given hope, and then having it jerked forcefully away from her, put Rose in such a mood sometimes that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry or scream or just sit there and stare at the wall.

On the train home for Christmas, he chose to sit in the compartment with her rather than going to join his other friends. They spent the entire ride home talking and joking and laughing, and generally getting along. She felt for sure that it was a turning point in their relationship, that they would be able to move forward together, as friends. And possibly turn into more than friends.

When they returned from break, though, everything was back to the way it usually was. He was snarky and distant, continuing to take his duties as Head Boy less than seriously, and it fell to her to pick up all the slack.

She was damn tired of it.

So she tried to talk to him about it. Tried to get him to hold up his end, to do what he was supposed to do, when he was supposed to do it. She had envisioned a polite, civil conversation, wherein she calmly and maturely discussed her unhappiness, and he calmly and maturely accepted it, and they worked together to find a solution.

It didn't quite happen like that.

"Malfoy, can I talk with you for a moment?"

"Alright, I suppose, but be fast about it. I have things to do," came the terse reply.

Rose hesitated momentarily, then continued. "Actually, that's exactly what I need to talk to you about. Your 'things to do.' Because, Malfoy, a lot of them aren't getting done."

He sighed impatiently and turned towards the door. "If I'd known this was what you wanted to talk about, I'd never have let you start. Haven't we done this before?"

"Yes, we have," she said, catching his arm and pulling him to a stop. "But it didn't change anything."

"So, why does something have to change?"

"Because you're not doing your part!"

"Why should I, when you do my part so well anyway?"

She gaped at him. Did he actually have the nerve to suggest that she do all the work?

Apparently, he did.

"I mean, come on, Weasley. You do everything that I do, as you pointed out to me earlier, and you do it better. So since you do what I don't anyway, why don't I just let you take care of Head business? It would be done better that way, and then I could spend more time with Emily."

Emily. Of course. His girlfriend. The one he broke up with and got together with, as regularly as the tides. The one he was sappy with and smug about, the one he couldn't help but bring up.

She'd thought nothing he could say would hurt her, but she was wrong. How many times had she wished she was that one? The one who he looked at with eyes glazed over, the one who could drive him to distraction, the one who had him for as long as she wanted him.

Forever.

"Malfoy, I'm through asking you. Do your own work or I'll report you to McGonagal. Last warning."

He looked incredulous. "Why would you report me? We're supposed to work together, not turn on each other!"

"Exactly. _Together._ Which only works if we _both_ do our work."

"I will do my work whenever and however I wish to, Weasley. I have nothing more to say on the subject," he said coldly. "Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to find my girlfriend. She's someone who actually makes me _happy_, which is certainly something I need right now. That's the thing about you, Weasley. Somehow you always put me in the worst mood. Don't bring this up again, or I'll tell Professor Longbottom about how you cover up for your family when you catch them breaking the rules."

She gasped in fury. "I do no such thing! You know very well that I'm always fair, I always do the right thing, including giving my family detentions when they deserve it!"

"Yes," he said, "But does Professor Longbottom?"

"He'll listen to me when I tell him you're wrong," she said defensively.

"Not after I'm done with him. Now run along, Weasley, and take your attitude elsewhere. I hate having you around." And with that, he strode out of the room.

Rose waited a few moments before allowing the tears to spill from her eyes. He always had the power to hurt her, no matter how much she swore otherwise. Sometimes she could just clock the boy in the head.

He hated her.

She hated that.

But there was no way she could change it.

**A/N:** Okay, here's my new story. And here's a question for you all: should I write another chapter, of Rose and Scorpius when they're grown up and out of school? And should I get them together eventually, or just leave it all angsty and unfullfilled? Leaves responses in reviews please!

Love,

Star


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N****:** Well, here it is, at long last. The continuation of the story. Enjoy!

XXXXX

**Scorpius's POV**

He was such an idiot. How had he missed this? How had he not realized what a treasure she was?

They were working together again, after nearly five years apart, partnered by the unsuspecting Auror department. They'd both made it through training and now, as all young Aurors, were paired with another person at first. He had the luck to get her. She seemed less than pleased to be working with him.

She'd hardly changed.

He, on the other hand, had changed a great deal. The intervening years had allowed him to mature, to develop some sensibilities that hadn't been there before. Sufficient sensibilities to realize what a jerk he had been while they were still at school.

It was a wonder she hadn't reported him back then, or smacked him, or something. He never would've put up with working with such a person, if he'd been in her place.

But that's just who Rose was. She tried her best in all things, never wanted to fight, never made a fuss if she didn't have to. He felt beyond guilty now, remembering all those fights they'd gotten in during school and realizing now how much that must have cost her.

And so he promised himself, he'd never be that person again.

She didn't believe him, though. And really, why should she?

She treated him with an almost painful distance, regarding him as she might an annoying relative. She kept her work as separate from his as she could, rarely allowing them to do joint work. They weren't even 'partners' in any real sense of the word.

Merlin, had he screwed up during school. He wished now that she would let him make amends, but clearly his account of trust with her had been overdrawn. If only she'd give him another chance…

He had to make amends, somehow.

XXXX

**Rose's POV**

Work was hell.

As if she hadn't had enough trouble working with Scorpius Malfoy during school. Now he had to follow her here?

Assigned as partners by the Auror department of the Ministry, there was no way she could back out of having to deal with him. Again. You'd think that, since her Uncle Harry was head of the department, she'd have ended up with someone a little better qualified to work with her.

But no. Scorpius it was.

And it got worse. Or maybe better.

Though it had been five years, Rose could still remember every moment of seventh year like it had happened just yesterday. All of her tumultuous emotions, all of her troubles, all of her dreams. She'd hardly changed at all since then.

Which meant that Scorpius still had the same effect on her.

Oh, how she'd hoped that would disappear once school was over. And she really thought it had, too. Right up until the moment she saw Scorpius in their joint office at the Ministry, smiling tentatively (and apologetically?) at her.

And then it all came rushing back. She'd never really fallen out of love with him, she discovered, only suppressed it for a while in his absence. But now that he was back, working with her again, it all rose to the forefront.

She felt like a seventeen year old again, nervous and frustrated and dying to have his respect and admiration. But the truth was, she _had_ matured some since school. Enough so that she could push down those emotions and ignore them, and him, as completely as she could.

She wouldn't make the same mistake again. She wouldn't let him have so much power over her.

So she went about her work, careful to keep their things completely separate, involving him in her work only when she absolutely had too. She wasn't about to risk repeating the past. There was no way in hell she'd let him bully her into doing all his work again, and she certainly wasn't going to act like the love struck fool she used to be.

But the odd thing was, they didn't have any trouble. No more fights, no more arguments, no more 'polite disagreements.' He was the perfect gentleman, allowing her to do her own work and keeping up with his, doing everything that was asked of him without complaint.

She didn't know what to make of it. She only knew that somehow, this Scorpius was even more dangerous to her dreams than seventeen year old Scorpius had been.

She didn't trust him, but couldn't help but hope that maybe, he really had changed.

XXXX

**Scorpius's POV**

Commencing Project Apologize to Rose, Scorpius thought to himself. Now, if only he had any idea of how she'd take it….

It had been a startling thing to realize, actually, that he had no clue whatsoever what she would think of his plan. Despite knowing the girl for half their lives, working with her as Head Boy and Girl for a full year, he didn't have any idea of who she was as a person, really.

Yes, he knew that she was smart and stubborn, gorgeous and generous and kind, that she liked to help people, that she hated arguing, that she loved her family above all else. But he didn't know her favorite flower, or her favorite food, what kind of movies she liked, whether she liked reading fiction or non-fiction books better, if she liked to dance, if she'd kept up her Quidditch training after leaving Hogwarts….

This put him at a distinct disadvantage. Usually he was so sure of how a girl would respond to him, could read the other gender like a book and pick out exactly the best way to get into a girl's good graces. But with Rose, he just didn't know….

He looked over at her desk, at the single orchid he'd placed upon it, having sudden misgivings. What if she hated it? What if she thought he was merely mocking her, or worse: what if she thought he was coming onto her?

This was a terrible plan. He went to go take back the orchid, think of something else entirely, some better way to show that he was sorry. It was too late, however – just as he got up, Rose walked in the door and headed straight for her desk.

He gulped.

Her back was to him, so he couldn't see the expression on her face, but he could see a certain tension in her shoulders.

"Malfoy?" Her voice sounded slightly strained.

"Yes?" Merlin, he couldn't believe it. His palms were sweaty, his voice nearly cracked. All over apologizing to a girl? This was insane.

"Who put this here?" she asked. At last, she turned around.

He looked at her, studying her expression. She looked….not exactly pleased, per se, but not exactly upset. More...distant.

Not good.

"Um, well….that is….I did."

"I see." Rose kept her voice tightly controlled, face betraying nothing. "Why?"

He took a deep breath. "Because I, well, I – I wanted to apologize." There. He'd said it.

"Why?" she asked again, in the same toneless voice.

"Because I was a prat to you. I was awful, and I didn't realize, but I do now, and I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you –"

"You didn't hurt me," she cut in. "If you're talking about Hogwarts, there's really no need. It was years ago."

He looked at her for a long moment, trying to discern if she was telling the truth.

XXXX

**Rose's POV**

Rose held her breath, praying he'd accept her statement. It was a complete lie, but of course she'd never tell him that.

Truthfully, she didn't know what to say. He'd caught her completely off guard, giving her a flower and apologizing for his actions back at school, and she had no idea how to react. On one hand, she was delighted that he'd grown up enough to care what she thought of him. On the other hand, she couldn't let herself think he cared too much, or she'd end up just at heartbroken as she had been back at Hogwarts.

Still, it was a very romantic gesture….and somehow, he'd even figured out her favorite flower. Most people went with the rose, since it was her name, but she'd always preferred something a little bit more exotic. How had he possibly known that?

But no, she was reading too much into it. He was dangerous, very dangerous to her, especially when he was like this, all sweet and trying to make up for his mistakes. She couldn't let herself fall into his trap.

He was still looking at her, studying her, and she made sure to keep her face perfectly controlled. If he didn't believe her, she had no idea what she'd do….

At last, he looked away, seemingly accepting what she'd said.

She sighed in relief. Now that _that_ was over with, they could continue on with their lives, just like they had before. He'd gotten to assuage his conscience, she'd made certain it wouldn't be a problem anymore, and they could both just forget about it. Life would go on as usual.

Right?

Wrong, she found out. If anything, it was worse now. She wished he'd never gotten it in his head to apologize to her. She wished that she could still think of him as a self-absorbed bastard, that she could continue hating his guts for what he'd done to her and ignore her stupid attraction to him.

But it was not to be. Even if her conscious mind refused to think of him, her subconscious went wild. She'd start daydreaming, and before she knew it, she'd be dreaming of him, a Prince Charming, come to rescue her from the wilds of boredom and carry her off for a Happily Ever After.

It was so enticing, and so much worse now that he wasn't a villain in real life anymore. Now, she could actually almost envision him in that part, gallantly helping her whenever she needed it, helping her up when she fell down.

She sighed. In the last two weeks since his apology, she'd fallen even more in love with the rascal. If that was possible.

She'd only done exactly what she had sworn she wouldn't, had set herself up to be hurt worse than she ever had been in the past. She couldn't let things continue like this.

She had to save herself, any way that she could.

Which meant that Scorpius had to go.

XXXX

**Scorpius's POV**

Scorpius was about to go out of his mind. He had never met a girl who could cause him so much damn trouble, but that was exactly what Rose Weasley was doing.

He didn't even know what he'd thought would happen after his apology to her, but it certainly wasn't this. He'd expected some form of friendship, maybe, a kind of truce that would allow them to work together. He definitely had not expected her to pull back even more, to the point at which she wouldn't even look at him when he was talking to her.

What on earth had he done wrong? He'd apologized, admitted he was wrong, given her a flower to show that he meant it – so what was she unhappy about now?

He'd chalked it up to being merely a figment of his overactive imagination, that she'd drawn ever farther back from him, until yesterday.

Yesterday, he'd overheard her arguing with her uncle, the one and only Harry Potter, head of the Auror department. Arguing about him. Specifically, that she had to work with him.

"Can't you please, please let me switch partners?" she pleaded.

Auror Potter sighed. "Rosie, I'm sorry, but I can't. Now, if he'd actually done something wrong, I might be able to, but I can see that he's a perfectly fine, capable young man." Sounding suspicious, he continued. "He hasn't done anything wrong, has he? Hasn't done anything…un-asked for?"

There was a pause, and Scorpius readied himself to burst in to defend himself if need be. He could feel anger swelling up inside him, that she'd do this to him, even after he'd tried to put things right.

"No," she responded at last. "No, he hasn't done anything at all, asked for or not."

Scorpius was shocked to hear her sounding vaguely _bitter_, as though she were upset about that fact.

Her uncle clearly didn't notice anything was wrong, and so prepared to end their discussion, saying with an air of finality, "I'm sorry, then, Rosie. I wish I could help you, but agency policies—"

"It's fine," she cut him off, and there was the sound of a chair being pushed back.

Scorpius started, then hurried back to his desk lest he be caught eavesdropping, either by Rose or by Auror Potter.

She had certainly given him things to think about, though.

XXXXX

**A/N:** So, there's another chapter. Don't worry, it's not finished yet. There will be at least one more chapter; I haven't actually decided how it's going to end yet, specifically. It'll be updated in another couple days, and we'll see where it stands. Thanks for the patience while I got around to working on this story again!

As always, reviews are much appreciated. ^_^

Love,

Star


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Wow! It's been a long two years, and a lot of stuff has happened! Back on my feet after some issues with starting college (depression is never fun, especially when you're alone in a new place) and writing again. Or, at least, trying to finish what I didn't before. So I've got the end of this story (finally! I know. I'm sorry), and the end of another one, and another bit of another. I'm really, really gonna try to finish stories before I post them, so I don't leave you all hanging like this. Thanks so much for being patient and not hating me! Or, at least, I hope you don't. Hate me, that is.

Sorry, I'll shush now and let the story continue. Enjoy.

~Star

XXXX

**Scorpius's POV**

**A few days later**

He was going crazy.

He'd thought that he could make it all better, that he could just apologize and they could start anew, as coworkers and as friends, without their shared history mucking things up. Now, he wasn't so sure.

She'd become, if anything, even more distant over the past few days. Ever since she'd had the conversation between her and her uncle, she had spoken to him only when it was required. Never looking at him (and he knew, because he spent all his time looking at her), hardly even bothering to acknowledge his existence.

He couldn't believe it. Did she really still hold such a grudge after school?

"Good morning, Rose," he said, throwing his coat across the back of his chair and sitting down at his desk.

No response.

"I've nearly finished the report on the wizard up in York that was caught with a dragon egg. How is your work coming?"

No response.

"Glad to hear it," Scorpius added sarcastically, then immediately wished he hadn't.

She gave him an unamused look before turning back to her work.

"Sorry, sorry, that was uncalled for." He winced, feeling bad for annoying her. He had really, really been trying to be the perfect gentleman, always polite and helpful, and little mistakes like that didn't help. He had to change her idea of him as an idiot schoolboy.

He pulled his latest tactic out of his bag. "Hey, Rose? I made a batch of muffins this morning, and I thought I'd see if you wanted any." With a flourish, he set a tub of them on the edge of his desk nearest to him.

She looked up.

Ah, yes, it was working. If there was one thing Scorpius remembered from his time as Head Boy with Rose, it was how much she liked baked goods. He seemed to recall teasing her about it that year, awed by the sheer number of cookies and pastries the girl consumed. Scorpius grinned, already anticipating his success.

XXXX

**Rose's POV**

Why did he have to go and do something like this?

She had been perfectly happy ignoring him. After the pointless discussion with Uncle Harry, she had resigned herself to working with Scorpius, deciding that if working with someone else was impossible, then ignoring him was the next best thing.

And it worked. Mostly.

She made sure to always arrive before he did, do her work as quickly and efficiently as she could, and leave before him. When they got sent out together, she made sure she knew exactly what they were doing and where they were going, so she wouldn't have to ask him.

And his attempts at conversation? Quickly shut down, with her years of practice dealing with annoying (and much more stubborn) cousins.

Really, it was all going very well. She was sure that as long as she kept ignoring him, she'd be able to forget about him, to finally (finally!) move on.

And now he had done this. Brought muffins. Bloody hell.

She had left her flat early this morning, worried about preparing for their assignment the following day. Arriving at work before pretty much anyone else, she'd sat down at her desk and begun to sort through the briefing, making notes of important aspects and things to consider.

_Suspect has been known to transfigure himself_, Rose was noting, when her stomach grumbled loudly.

She looked around, embarrassed, hoping no one had heard it. She bent back over her work, only to be interrupted again by an even louder gurgling noise.

She groaned internally, realizing in her rush to get here she had forgotten to eat breakfast. Racking her brains for any spell that could make food appear, she jumped as the door suddenly opened.

Scorpius.

Quickly bending back over her work, she sighed, resigning herself to being hungry until lunch time.

"Good morning, Rose," he said cheerfully.

No, it wasn't. It could never be a good morning when she was hungry.

"I've nearly finished the report on the wizard up in York that was caught with a dragon egg. How is your work coming?"

Okay, but she could barely concentrate now for daydreams of glorious pastries, muffins and fresh bread, croissants and crumpets and biscuits.

"Glad to hear it."

At his tone, Rose looked up, peeved. She gave him a disdainful look, then went back to staring at the page and thinking about breakfast.

"Sorry, sorry, that was uncalled for," he said immediately, sounding chagrined.

She instantly felt bad. Her whole plan of ignoring him was to help her get over him, not to hurt him, and she was about to turn and say sorry when she remembered what a prick he'd always been to her. Stiffening her spine, she kept her gaze trained on the page in front of her, trying to concentrate on her work.

_Must practice advanced transfiguration_, she wrote. If only she could stop thinking about food. _Ask Scorpius to do so as well?_ Transfiguration had never been her strong suit. _Look up anti-transfiguration spells_. What was that smell…?

Rose stopped writing, thoroughly convinced she was imagining things. A heavenly scent was wafting through the air now, almost pulled straight from Rose's daydreams. Warm muffins…

"Hey, Rose?" Scorpius sounded pleased, almost smug. "I made a batch of muffins this morning, and I thought I'd see if you wanted any." He set a tub of plump, steaming muffins right on the edge of her peripheral vision.

They smelled delicious. Her mouth watered and her stomach growled loudly.

Bloody, bloody hell.

If she took just one, she could still ignore him. Probably.

Sighing, she gave in to her stomach, reaching out and taking a muffin. Biting into it, she couldn't help but moan as the taste flooded her mouth. Rich, sweet, and fruity, it was exactly what she had been longing for.

"Thank you," she said, looking up at Scorpius and expecting to see a satisfied smirk on his face.

Her breath caught.

No smirk was there, only a smile. Scorpius didn't look smug, only happy. Pleased that she was enjoying the muffins, pleased that she was happy.

Her heart flipped.

XXXX

**Scorpius's POV**

He could barely breathe for hoping. So far, everything had gone just as he planned. Rose hadn't completely ignored his offering, she'd taken a muffin, and now she was eating it. She'd even said thanks, bringing a soft smile to his face as he saw how much she was enjoying his baking.

Thank goodness his mother had insisted on cooking lessons before he'd moved out.

And now, the way Rose was looking at him…almost longingly…

His heart skipped a beat, startling him.

How odd. He'd just wanted to make Rose not hate him anymore, but it seemed he'd done something more. He'd just wanted them to be friends, an opportunity he'd completely missed while they were in school together, but suddenly, he was no longer sure if that was what was going on.

Friends? The word didn't seem large enough anymore.

And suddenly he was seeing Rose in a different way. He had never quite realized how beautiful she really was… Her hair swept gracefully across her forehead, gleaming gorgeous red as it fell to her shoulders. Her upturned nose was delicately dotted with freckles, accentuating her pale, pale skin and beautiful green eyes. Eyes which, Scorpius realized, he was still staring into.

Neither of them looked away for a long moment.

And then Rose abruptly looked down, breaking the spell. She went back to work, dipping her head lower over her papers and beginning to scribble rapidly.

Scorpius took a deep breath, trying to sort through his thoughts and make sense of what had just happened. He'd made Rose happy, and that made him happy. Very happy. And he wanted to do it again.

That was all it was. He liked feeling like he was making progress. If he kept doing things like this, there would be no way that Rose could keep ignoring him.

Then they could finally be friends.

XXXX

**A/N:** Five more chapters to go, which will probably be posted over the next week or two, depending on interest. Thanks for bearing with me.

~Star


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Next chapter's here. Four more to go. Hope you're enjoying it! ^_^

~Star

XXXX

**Rose's POV**

**Three days later**

This would never work. Never in a million, billion years would this work out well.

She had to get rid of him. Somehow. That was the only option, because if things continued like this, she would be lost.

Since he had brought in muffins for her, Scorpius had been the picture of chivalry. Each day since he'd done something else for her. Handled the transfiguration aspects of their field assignment without being asked, offered to write up the report all by himself, given her the afternoon off the next day, and brought in coffee for her yesterday morning.

He was so sweet, so courteous, that Rose found her resolve slipping. She knew she still fancied him just as much as ever, and she knew it was still a bad idea to even imagine them together, but she couldn't help it.

How could she not think of every day being just as filled with Scorpius as they already were? How could she help but imagine a life with him if he insisted on being so bloody nice to her all the time? And yet she knew, she _knew_ it was still a bad idea. All her time wishing and hoping over him had taught her one thing: dreams never turned into reality.

You'll just have to get over him, she told herself. This will never work out like you want it to, he's proven that a thousand times before, and you just need to accept it. Get rid of him.

But it was hard.

She constantly found herself smiling in response to his grins, laughing at his witty comments, teasing him when they talked. She was being open, no, friendly with him, and that was more dangerous than anything he could do.

If they were friends, they could be together. If they were friends, it would hurt all the more when he rejected her, again, as she knew he always would.

But what could she do? She'd already tried to get transferred to someone else, and there was _no way_ that she would give up this job after all the work she put into it.

She was stuck. And worse than that: she was happy about it.

XXXX

**Scorpius's POV**

**Several weeks later**

He could hardly contain his glee. It was working.

Over the past weeks he'd taken the utmost care to be nice to Rose, in every way he could think of. He wanted to show her, unequivocally, that he was not the same boy as he used to be. He could be responsible and caring and thoughtful and funny, someone who she could really be friends with.

And it was really, actually working.

Scorpius could have laughed with relief after all the time he'd spent worrying about it not working. They were really becoming friends now! No longer was Rose cold and distant, now she smiled when she saw him, made time to ask him about his life, shared anecdotes from hers. She paid attention to what he was doing, and kept him informed with her work too.

She was just as intelligent and interesting, funny and clever as he'd always known she would be. He only wished (for the thousandth time) that he hadn't been such a prick in school, or they might have had this camaraderie the whole time.

Now for the real test, though. She liked him well enough to actually interact with him at work now, felt fine with accepting coffee from him every morning, but would she agree to meet him outside of work?

He took a deep breath, and walked into their office, smiling. "Good morning, Rose!"

"Oh! Good morning, Scorpius. Why are you here so early?" Rose looked up from her desk, startled.

Scorpius shrugged. "Just woke up a bit earlier today, I guess." In truth, he was uncommonly nervous about asking Rose to join him for breakfast the next morning, and could hardly sleep for thinking about it. "Coffee?"

She took the proffered cup with a smile. "Thanks."

"So, uh…how come you always get here so early?" He sat awkwardly on the edge of her desk, looking down at her.

She shrugged. "I've always been a morning person, and, I dunno. There's something so calm, so peaceful about the office with almost no one in."

He looked through their window at the empty hallway, noting how much more quiet it seemed without the other rooms occupied. "Well…since you always get here so much before you have to…" He took a deep breath. "Um…maybe tomorrow you could come in at the regular time?"

She looked at him quizzically.

He cursed himself internally. Why was he so bloody nervous? It's not like he was asking her on a date, and even if he was, it should be easier than this! "What I mean is, um, maybe you could come out to breakfast with me tomorrow morning instead of coming in early to work?"

There. He'd done it.

Looking down, he saw an emotion pass through her face that he couldn't quite catch. How he wished he knew what she was thinking.

XXXX

Rose was worried she was going to expire on the spot.

She'd just been berating herself again, this time for how she was admiring the shape of his nose instead of paying attention to what he was saying when he shocked her out of her reverie.

"What I mean is, um, maybe you could come out to breakfast with me tomorrow morning instead of coming in early to work?" he said, looking into her eyes and causing her heartbeat to go through the roof.

No. _No._ He couldn't seriously be asking her out, could he? Was this really happening?

_Stop hyperventilating, dork_, Rose told herself. _Be cool. Be suave, be classy, and for the sake of Merlin's beard, don't stop breathing entirely!_

"Oh. I mean, yeah, sure, I guess I could do that," she said, trying her absolute hardest to sound as cavalier as possible and praying that he couldn't see how excited she was.

"Okay," he replied with a relieved smile. "Okay. So, what shall we say, seven tomorrow? I've been getting coffee every morning at this little place called the Firefly Café, or we could—"

"No, no! Coffee sounds fine!" Rose replied hurriedly, not wanting him to have to go out of his way for her. "I mean, since you stop by there anyways, I'll just come with."

"Great!" He sounded pleased. "So we'll plan on that for tomorrow, then."

Rose could hardly keep from squealing in glee. _She was really going on a date with Scorpius!_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Next chapter, as promised. Enjoy!

~Star

XXXX

**Rose's POV**

**The next morning**

She was a mess.

Rose usually woke up at six o'clock every morning, no need of alarms to wake her. This morning, however, it felt like she'd barely fallen asleep when she opened her eyes to see the clock read 6:15. It took her a moment to process, but a second later she'd jumped out of bed.

Not sure whether to laugh, cry, or scream, Rose hugged herself and danced around her bedroom, hardly daring to believe this was real. Finally, _finally_, he'd really actually asked her on a date! She was dating Scorpius Malfoy!

And she had only forty-five minutes to get ready. Forty, if you counted the time trying to figure out where to apparate to.

She dashed for the bathroom.

After showering hurriedly and applying lotion, Rose found herself standing in front of the mirror, desperately trying to decide which shirt made her boobs look best, whether blush would be too much, and if she should wear a skirt or pants. Half dressed in underwear (matching pink lace that made her feel sexy) and socks (decidedly not sexy), tubes of mascara and eyeliner pencils cluttered the counter in front of her as she held first one shirt, then the next up to her chest.

It was official: she was panicking.

So she did the only thing that made sense: called Lily.

"Rose! Do you even _know_ what time it is right now?" came the disgruntled voice from the fireplace. "Some of us need our beauty sleep, you know."

"I'm going on a date and I have no idea what to wear," Rose blurted.

Lily's tone changed completely. "Well _why_ didn't you just _say so_ in the _first place_! You know this is my area of expertise!"

"I know, why do you think I'm calling? Just tell me what to do, please, I'm desperate."

"So what is this, a breakfast date? Not fancy then, just casual. Heading to work straight after?"

"Yes," Rose answered absently, still looking at the three shirts laid out.

"Then wear what you'd usually wear to work, except wear that one white shirt you have, the one with the gold detail and the short sleeves."

"But, Lily," Rose protested. "I haven't worn that in years, not since I actually grew a chest. I'm not even sure it will fit any more!"

"Exactly."

Rose could practically hear her cousin winking. "Fine. But, then, what about make-up? Should I do foundation and concealer and blush and everything? I didn't sleep well, and I'm worried about bags—"

Lily cut her off. "Rose. Shut up. You're gorgeous. Never once have I seen you look anything but radiant in the morning, even when you stayed up all night studying for NEWTS. Just use a bit of eyeliner and mascara, and you'll be fine. Don't look like you're trying too hard for this guy."

Rose could have hugged her. "Thanks, Lily, you're a life saver!" She ran back to the bathroom.

"Hey, who's this bloke you're meeting, anyways?" Lily asked, sounding curious.

But Rose was already gone, too absorbed in getting ready to hear her cousin.

XXXX

**Scorpius's POV**

Scorpius had arrived slightly earlier than he said he would, and now he was regretting it. Sitting at a table, waiting for Rose to arrive so they could order together, he almost felt butterflies in his stomach. Scoffing at the idea that he was nervous about meeting her (what's so scary about getting coffee with a friend, anyways?), he nevertheless found himself anxiously tapping his fingers as he waited.

Six fifty-seven. She'd be here any minute.

Scorpius took a deep breath, willing himself to calm down. He was early, so there was no reason to expect her yet.

He checked his watch again. Six fifty-eight.

_Stop that_, he told himself. _Just sit calmly and wait, like a normal person_.

He started counting his breaths, his old standby for relaxing. _One. Two. Three. Four._

She arrived on nine, and he stopped breathing entirely.

She was gorgeous. Soft red hair curling gently around her shoulders, enormous green eyes peering up at him through thick brown lashes, a small smile formed by her beautiful full lips, and—

_Merlin._ That shirt. He'd made the mistake of looking down, and now he was worried he couldn't look away. White, with golden threads bringing out the gold in her skin, this shirt made him realize just how much Rose had going for her. It was low-cut and tight enough to show off her very, very nice cleavage, and, _oh holy hell_ he caught a glimpse of pink lace beneath.

The sudden image of Rose in nothing but pink lace flashed through his mind, and he could feel his face beginning to heat up. Jerking his gaze back up to her face, he saw her lips forming words.

"Good morning, Scorpius," she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice as well as see it in her face.

He grinned in response. "Hi."

"Hope I didn't keep you waiting long?"

"No, no, not at all," he hurried to say. "I got here a bit early, is all, to make sure I was here before you. Shall we order?"

Rose nodded and gestured for him to go first up to the counter.

"No, ladies first, I insist," Scorpius said, bowing and gallantly offering her his arm.

She giggled and accepted, slipping her arm through his.

Walking up to the counter with her at his side felt anything but merely _friendly_, and Scorpius drew back, slightly alarmed at himself.

_Just getting coffee with a friend_, he reminded himself, as she stepped up to the counter in front of him.

"I'll have, hmm, a non-fat latte with extra foam, please. Oh, and could I have one of those, too?" Rose pointed at a berry Danish in the glass case next to the counter.

"And you, sir?" The barista looked at him expectantly.

"Uh, a cappuccino, thanks. Oh, and a blueberry scone."

"That will be seven fifty-nine. Let me get your pastries."

Rose began rummaging in her purse.

"No, no, let me get it. This whole thing was my idea, and I don't mind paying." Scorpius laid a few pieces of muggle money on the counter.

A perfectly friendly thing to do.

The barista returned with their baked treats, and the two waited in comfortable silence for their drinks. Returning to the table, they chatted like old friends, and everything felt oddly normal.

XXXX

**Rose's POV**

She couldn't believe everything was going so well. Here they were, sitting in a coffee shop together, talking about anything and everything. He was making her laugh, she was making him smile, and through it all, she could feel herself falling more and more in love with him.

Gone were the torturous feelings of old, the pushing and pulling and fighting and yearning. Here he was, in front of her, a responsible, mature version of the boy she'd fallen for.

He really had gotten better since school, and now she was so, so infinitely glad he'd asked her on this date. He made her happier than she could remember being, and she wanted to tell him.

Tell him how much she appreciated this, and how much she fancied him. _He's the one who asked you out, dummy,_ Rose told herself, when her nerves threatened to get in the way. _Just go for it_.

So, in a brief lull in the conversation, she spoke up. "Scorpius—"

"Rose—" He spoke at the same time.

They laughed.

"You first," she said.

He grinned at her, and she felt her heart flip.

"Okay. I just wanted to say, Rose, how much I appreciate you coming out with me today. I know I was a complete jerk to you during school, and I'm really, really sorry about it. I wish I could take it back, but I guess the next best thing is making it up to you."

Rose could barely contain her excitement. He was saying all the right things, and she was sure, so sure, that what would follow would be the same confession as she had for him. She tried not to look too overjoyed, and let him continue.

"Which is why I wanted to say thank you for putting the past behind us, and being friends with me now. I was so nervous that you wouldn't agree to come with me this morning, nervous that you still hated me like in school." Scorpius laughed. "Thank goodness you don't! If you can agree to meet me for coffee, we can definitely be friends. So," he held up his coffee cup, smiling wryly, "to friendship!"

Rose felt like her heart had stopped. "To friendship," she echoed quietly, feeling happiness draining from her veins.

She had about three minutes, she estimated, before she burst into tears.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Chapter six is here. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Enjoy.

~Star

XXXX

**Rose's POV**

"Actually, Scorpius," Rose said as normally as she could, "I've gotta go now. My uncle Harry said he wanted to see me this morning before work, so sorry." She slung her purse over her shoulder and held tightly to her coffee cup, hoping her hands weren't shaking too much.

He thought they were friends.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I had no idea you were meeting with the department head this morning! I'd have postponed for another day if you'd told me."

"No, no, it's fine," she reassured him. "It was a last minute thing, and anyways…I'd better go."

Striding quickly to the door, she chucked her half-full coffee cup in the bin, unable to stomach anything right now. She just needed to get away.

Turning on the spot, she pictured the front of the Auror's department, and the squeezing feeling of apparating felt almost like a relief from the constriction already present in her chest.

Running inside to her uncle's office, she slammed the door behind her and collapsed into a chair, sobbing.

"Rose?!" Harry stood up, alarmed at the sudden appearance of his niece. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"N-n-nothing," she cried. "I j-just need s-someplace to b-be that isn't here. P-p-please."

"Hey, there, shush. It's going to be okay. Do you want me to get your parents?"

"No!" Sniffing, Rose looked up at her uncle through her tears. "No. I'm okay, I just really, r-really don't want to come in to w-work here for the next week. Or month. Or year."

Her uncle looked at her, obviously still worried.

"Really, Uncle Harry, I'm okay. I got some bad news, nothing about the family, just personal business, and I'd really like to go away for a while. Is there any way I could do that?" She wiped at her eyes, sitting straighter in the chair and giving him a pleading look.

He shuffled through a few papers on his desk, then came around and looked at her. "I've got an assignment up in Scotland for the next three weeks. I was going to send a slightly more practiced Auror, but since you did so well in training and have had no trouble these past weeks, I can send you instead. Will that work?"

Rose jumped up and flung herself into his arms. "Yes, thank you so, so, so much! When can I leave?"

"This afternoon. Don't forget to tell your parents!" he called after her as she dashed out of his office.

"I won't!" Rose called back, already preparing a mental list of everything she'd take with.

Anything to take her mind off Scorpius.

XXXX

**Scorpius's POV**

She wasn't here.

After Rose had left the coffee shop so abruptly this morning, he'd lingered behind, finishing his coffee leisurely and thinking about their morning. She was so great, laid back but intelligent, clever in all the right ways. He couldn't think of a girl he'd been more comfortable with.

And just when he'd been congratulating himself on everything going so well, she'd left. Just like that, she was gone.

Why hadn't she mentioned her meeting with her uncle before now? He wouldn't accompanied her to the office, or they could've gotten coffee a different morning instead.

Shrugging, he'd left the café and come straight to work, eagerly anticipating seeing Rose again.

There was just something about her that made him so happy…

But she wasn't here.

He'd come in to their office, set his stuff down, and gone to work. Half an hour later, he began to wonder where she was.

Two hours later, when she still hadn't shown up, he went up to her uncle's office.

"Come in," came the voice from inside, answering his knock.

Scorpius opened the door and stepped inside.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy. How can I help you?"

"Sorry to bother you, sir, I was just wondering if you could tell me where Rose is."

"Rose?" A look passed across the department head's face. "She was in here this morning."

"Yes, sir, I know. She told me she was meeting you earlier, and I haven't seen her since, sir."

"Yes, well, er…yes. She's been sent on assignment, actually."

Scorpius could hardly believe it. First she didn't tell him about her conference, and now she didn't tell him about an assignment? "Sir? Aren't we partners, sir? Shouldn't I have gone with her?"

"Not this time. I needed someone to go up to Scotland for a time, and she just, ah, seemed like the right fit for the job. For the mean time, you can continue your work here alone, or you can join Mr. Scamander and Ms. Longbottom if you would prefer." With that, Auror Potter looked back down at the papers on his desk, signaling the conversation was over.

Scorpius stepped back into the hallway and shut the door behind him, thoroughly confused and not a little upset.

He thought he'd known her so well by this point, and now Rose went and did something like this? It just didn't make any sense.

XXXX

**Rose's POV**

**One week later**

Scotland was miserable, Rose was realizing. Or maybe she was miserable.

Stuck in a tiny village for three weeks had sounded perfect before, in her uncle's office, when all she could think about was putting as much distance as possible between her and Scorpius. But now? Not so perfect.

It had rained for seven days straight, echoing Rose's mood. She was in a little Muggle motel, monitoring a town in an area where three Muggles had recently turned up mysteriously dead. Ever since Voldemort's rise to power had been preceded by the same thing, the Auror department was overly cautious about such things.

And so, here she was. Standard procedure, monitor the area for any suspected magical activity for three weeks after the deaths had occurred, keep track of all magical folk in the town and surrounding area, then report back to the department about what she found.

There was nothing to keep her mind off Scorpius. Distance wasn't enough, Rose realized. She was still plagued by feelings of sadness and, most of all, anger at herself. She couldn't believe that after all the times he'd let her down, she'd trusted him enough to let him hurt her this badly.

She thought she had gotten over this years ago, but apparently Scorpius still had the power to make her feel worse than anything else.

She sighed. That wasn't fair to him.

Really, this time, it was solely her fault. She'd misinterpreted his intentions, allowed herself to hope for something that she knew, _she knew_ would never really happen.

And yet, it had seemed so real for a little while…

Shaking her head, Rose sighed. She should have known better, and now she was paying for her mistakes. Again. Really, had she learned nothing about hoping when it came to him?

Ah well. She had two more weeks up here before she had to face him again, two more weeks to pick up the pieces and put herself back together again.

Two more weeks to forget about how close she'd been to her dream.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Penultimate chapter! We're getting so close!

~Star

XXXX

**Scorpius's POV**

**One week later**

He missed her.

A lot. A lot more than he thought he would, anyways.

Why was it that it felt like a huge chunk of his life was missing while she was gone? He'd spent a perfectly happy five years without her before being assigned as partners, so why was he so lonely without her now?

Hardly an hour went by without him being reminded of her in some way or another. Finding a funny note in the paperwork for some case, and remembering she wasn't there to laugh over it with him. Waking up early for work, only to remember that there was no one to get coffee for. Leaving work late, wishing he had someone he could ask to dinner with him instead of always eating alone.

Why was she still gone? He'd thought she would only be gone for a couple of days, even if she was up in Scotland, but now it had been two weeks.

And with every day that passed, he missed her more.

_Perfectly understandable_, he told himself. _You'd gotten used to having a friend at work, and now you're alone. Perfectly reasonable_.

But that wasn't all of it, of course. He didn't just miss talking with her, he missed being with her. He missed the way she impatiently brushed the hair out of her eyes when she was writing, her musical laughter, her gorgeous, gleaming green eyes, the soft, lavender scent of her lotion, the tingles he got whenever she touched him.

_Tingles?_

Just picturing her face in his mind, his heart beat faster. She was so beautiful, and she acted like she didn't even know it.

He missed her a lot.

Why was she still gone? He hadn't thought that, since they were still so new, she would be sent on something longer than a couple days. Yet here it was two weeks later, and she was still gone. Had something happened to her?

Oh, no. What if something had happened to her, and everyone had forgotten to tell him?

Now that the idea had occurred to him, it seemed more and more likely. He had to find out.

Scorpius tried not to panic as he walked up the stairs to Auror Potter's office. He was probably just overreacting, he reasoned. Rose was fine, and there was definitely a perfectly reasonable explanation for why she was gone so long, and as soon as he saw the department head everything would get all sorted out.

Scorpius stopped short in dismay when he found the door to Potter's office closed, and all the lights off inside.

Ducking into one of the other offices on his way back, he asked about it. "Hey, Alice, any idea where Auror Potter's gone?"

She turned around. "Oh, hi Scorpius! Yeah, don't you remember? He's out of the office until next week, some trip with his wife or something. It was in an all-office memo on Monday."

Oh. Scorpius tried to hide his growing alarm. So Rose was still gone (missing?), and Potter wasn't here to tell him anything about her assignment. "Thanks, Alice. See you later."

She nodded absently and turned back to her desk.

What was he supposed to do now?

By the end of the work day, Scorpius had worked himself into quite a state. He knew, he absolutely knew that he was being absolutely bonkers about this, but Rose's absence was driving him mad.

He had to figure out where she was.

And so he wracked his brains, trying to think of someone, anyone of her relatives that he knew how to contact. And it turned out that the only person whose Floo address he knew was her cousin, Lily, from some failed romance of hers with one of his friends.

She would have to do.

Once he was back in his flat, he chucked a small pile of dust into the fireplace and spoke her address.

"Lily?"

"What? Yes? Oh, Scorpius Malfoy. Definitely wasn't expecting to hear from you." Lily's face appeared in his fireplace, looking curiously up at him.

"Yeah, I know this is kinda unexpected and weird, but I need you to do me a favor. Any idea where Rose has gone?"

"Rose has gone? Doesn't she work with you? I mean, I haven't heard anything, but I guess I can give you her parent's address if you want to ask them. Or maybe I should…" she mused. "Anyways, here, why don't you just come over? If I'm going to ask them, you might as well be here too."

"Okay," he replied, and stepped into the fire.

"There," she said, dusting him off on the other side. "Now just hold on a sec while I remember how to get a hold of them. Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione…let's see…"

"Sorry to bother you like this. I just haven't seen Rose in two weeks." Scorpius swallowed, acutely conscious of how worried he was about her.

"Two weeks? Really? Exactly? That was the last time I talked to her, too, that Thursday morning…"

Scorpius opened his mouth to ask what they'd been talking about, but Lily held up her hand. "Anyways, hold on and let me talk to her parents."

A brief conversation followed that Scorpius didn't pay much attention to, trying to stay out of the way of Rose's parents lest they inquire about his presence. _What would Rose ask her cousin about right before leaving? Did it have anything to do with where she might be now?_

"Alright, well, thank you Aunt Hermione! I was just a bit worried, since I hadn't heard anything from Rose in two weeks, but I'm glad to know she's fine. No, no, I'm fine, thanks. Yeah, I'd love to come by for dinner sometime, I'll ask James and Albus about a good time. No, yeah, they aren't too busy. Thanks!" And with that, Lily turned to face Scorpius.

"She's fine."

"Yup, she's fine," Lily replied happily. "Just been up in Scotland monitoring some suspicious activity or something, due back in another week. Everything's fine. You, on the other hand, look like a wreck." She laughed. "Never thought I'd see you so upset about Rose, of all people!"

He scowled. "Hey, we're friends now. I care about her."

Lily's expression changed. "Yes," she said simply. "I can see that you do."

He looked at her, then realized the implications of their statements. "I mean, not like _that_," he hurried to correct her. "Just, you know. As a friend. I'm very friendly with her."

"Mm-hm." Lily look unconvinced. "Scorpius, you just came rushing from work to ask me where Rose was, because you were worried about not seeing her for too long. Because you missed her, in short. You've been stressed out, practically panicking, the whole time we've been talking, up until I told you she was fine. And you want to tell me you're _just friends_ with her? Not even a little bit more?"

He just looked at her, unsure of what to say.

"Well, never mind that," she sighed. "If you do fancy her, I've got bad news for you. She's seeing someone else."

Scorpius's heart dropped. _Rose? Seeing someone?_ The thought had never occurred to him before. As far as he'd kept track, she'd never had a boyfriend, not even when they were in school together.

He didn't like the thought of it. Rose? With someone else? Someone else's arm wrapped around her, someone else making her laugh, smiling at and giggling with and kissing some other man, someone _not him_…

No. That's not how things were supposed to be. They were so good together, had the same interests and the same tastes and the same passions, the same sense of humor and the same wit and the same ideas of what was important.

Wasn't it obvious to her? It was obvious to him, now, even though he'd been such a dolt for all these years that he couldn't see it, couldn't see how she belonged with him and he with her. But he saw, now, and felt it rushing through him, this knowledge that he'd been working so hard the past few months to ignore: he and Rose could never be just friends.

They had too much between them, too much fire and passion, be it anger or pure connection, to be merely _friends_. The word would never be able to encompass what they were to each other.

But Rose was seeing someone else.

"Who, Lily? Who is Rose seeing?" He had to know. Why hadn't she told him? Were they ever as good of friends as he thought they had become? She kept so much from him, it seemed, and after pretending it didn't bother him for so long he couldn't stand it now.

"I dunno, man." Lily shrugged. "She just talked to me two weeks ago, early Thursday morning, and said she was going on a date."

Right before she'd left. Maybe she was in Scotland with this man. "She didn't say who it was? Or when she was meeting him?"

"Well she wanted my help picking what to wear. She was in a right state, she was, quite a mess. I've never seen her like that before. Whoever it was, she must really, really fancy them."

He would kill the guy. "Who was it, Lily?" Scorpius nearly shouted.

"I told you, I don't know! Calm down, have some self-respect. Just because she fancies someone else is no reason to get all upset like this."

Scorpius growled.

"Ooh, I knew you really liked her. Anyways, I don't know who she was meeting. She talked to me super early, like, six thirty or something. I think she was seeing him before work."

No.

"I told her she was gorgeous, because I am a wonderfully supportive cousin like that, and because it's completely true, and then told her to wear the tightest shirt I could remember that she had …"

No, no no no. It wasn't possible.

"…a white one, with gold bits on it that she used to wear sometimes back in school, and then I told her to keep it natural with the makeup, because as I'm sure you know Rose doesn't need hardly anything to make her look more beautiful…"

He was such. An. Idiot. He couldn't believe it.

"…and then she ran off without telling me who she was meeting," Lily finished.

Oh, Merlin, he knew what had gone wrong now. He felt so bad, and so stupid. He couldn't believe how blind he'd been, and how cruel to her he was that day at the café, just because he couldn't admit to himself how much he liked her.

Could he _be_ more childish than that?

"Lily." He took hold of her shoulders. "Where in Scotland is Rose?"

She looked askance at him. "You okay?"

"Where in Scotland is Rose?" he asked again, willing his voice calm.

"Um, a place called Dunnet, way up in the highlands. Hey, where are you going?" Lily cried, as he abruptly let her go and marched towards the fireplace.

"Dunnet," he told her, just before he stepped in and disappeared.

He had to do everything he could to make this right.


	8. Chapter 8

**Rose's POV**

It was still raining.

Nothing had happened in the past two weeks. There had been nothing out of place here, no sign of magical activity or anything, and Rose had pretty well convinced herself that the Muggles had just died of heart attacks or something.

There had barely been anything to take her mind off Scorpius.

She had almost come to terms with it, now. Turns out that five years didn't change much about things, either about her feelings for him or her ability to cope with those feelings. So many times he'd left her crumbling into tears in his absence that this was familiar, almost comforting.

And yet it was different, as well. This time the ache went a little deeper, felt a little sharper, than it had before. Never before had her wishes seemed so close, yet still been yanked away.

Rose sighed. One more week up here, and she'd return home to normal life again.

Normal life, with Scorpius Malfoy. But not _with _him. Just near enough to him to be hurt, time and again, when he inevitably found other girls to be with.

She sighed again. This gloomy weather was certainly not good for her mood. At first it had seemed so fitting, that her tears be matched by raindrops on the windows, but now her crying had come to an end, and the weather merely seemed oppressive.

She was lonely, she realized. Alone in a strange place for weeks, she'd never spent so much time away from family before.

_And friends_, she thought, thinking wistfully of him.

Because that's what they were. Friends. Just friends.

She had thought that her dreams were finally coming true, that he'd finally realized he had feelings for her and asked her out, but in reality he just wanted to be friends.

Rose gave a bitter laugh. What a cliché.

_These wishes of yours will never come true, Rose. Just give them up now._

She knew she should. She'd known all along that he was bad news for her, just as he always had been. She'd known, and she'd gone along with him in spite of that, and look where it landed her.

_I don't know what you expected_, she told herself ruefully. _Next time listen to your logical self, and you won't get into so much trouble._

Problem was, logic had never entered into it for her with Scorpius. There was just something about him that defied all reason, that pulled her towards him even when she knew she should be running away. Just as she knew that being near him was a bad idea, she also knew there'd be no way she'd be able to keep away.

_How can one man be as bad for me as he is?_

And yet, somehow, Scorpius was.

Suddenly, a knock came from outside. Rose stood up, startled. She walked over and, upon opening the door to her little motel cabin, was completely shocked to find a soaking wet Scorpius standing in front of her.

This couldn't be real. She pinched herself, then almost reached out to pinch him too before she caught herself.

"Rose," he said, reaching out to touch her arm.

She instinctively pulled back, folding her arms in to her body. "Scorpius." Even now, she couldn't bring herself to use his last name. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to see you. Oh, Rose, I really messed up, didn't I?" He stepped forward, through the doorway, and she stepped back in response.

This couldn't be happening.

"I—" Rose licked her lips, willing moisture into her suddenly dry mouth. "I don't know what you mean."

_These wishes of yours will never come true, Rose. Just give up_.

He tried to reach for her again, but she pulled back. "Rose?"

"Why are you here, Scorpius?" she asked, her voice sounding overly loud.

"Because." He sighed ruefully, running his hand through his hair.

She wished he wasn't so gorgeous. Seeing him up close again, after two weeks away, had her heart pounding faster than usual.

"Because," he said again, "I need to apologize. Again. I'm really, really sorry, Rose, I swear to Merlin I never meant to hurt you, I've just been extraordinarily dumb and it took me a while to realize it."

No. Just when she'd finally come to terms with her sadness, he had to come and do this? How dare he make her hope again, after how bloody many times he'd made her cry?

"So, uh, I wanted to tell you I'm sorry."

Rose wanted to cry. She wanted to scream at him, to tell him how much he'd hurt her, how often he'd hurt her over the years. She wanted to fall over sobbing and make him feel bad because he'd made her feel so bad.

But that's not who Rose was.

So she looked at him, did her best to smile, and told him, "it's fine, no need to worry. I'm okay."

"No need to—_no need to worry!_ Rose! You ran off to Scotland without telling me and don't come back for two weeks, and you expect me not to worry! I've been worried sick! I didn't know if anything had happened to you or what, but I couldn't stand the thought of you hurting!"

Rose almost laughed at the irony, but she wasn't sure if she could keep from crying once she started laughing. And so she stayed quiet.

"And then, because I had no one else to turn to, I went over to your cousin Lily's place."

Oh, no. He'd talked to Lily? What had she told him? Rose felt a blush forming on her cheeks at the thought that Scorpius might have found out about her great blunder, actually thinking that he might have feelings for her.

"Rose." His voice was quiet, but firm. "Look at me, please."

She looked up from the floor and into his ice-blue eyes.

"You were right."

What?

"It was a date."

_What?_ What on earth was he saying?

Rose couldn't keep the hope from blossoming in her chest.

"I was an idiot, and couldn't even admit to myself that I fancied you, but I did. I do."

She felt faint. Was he trying to say that he liked her? He couldn't be, not after all this, not after everything he'd done, not now…

"Rose? Are you listening?"

Yes, yes, of course she was, but she wasn't processing what she was hearing very well. Scorpius liked her. _Me. He likes me. He said so._ She was still staring at him, trying to make sense of what he was saying, trying to find the real message behind his words because it couldn't be, it just couldn't really be that he liked her.

She shook her head, unable to understand what was happening. Trying to find some reasonable explanation for his sudden appearance here, all the way up in the Scottish highlands, she closed her eyes, reminding herself of what she knew.

"No?" she heard him say, sounding faintly amused.

_These wishes of yours will never come true, Rose. Just give up_.

_I don't care what he says, it can't be true. The sooner you let go of your hopes for him, the sooner you can move on to._

"No."

"You're not listening to me?"

"No, and I don't want to. I don't want to hear any more, Scorpius, I'm done." With that, she turned around and walked away from him.

"Wait, Rose!"

She turned around again to tell him to leave, and found herself inches from him. Looking up, she felt the air leave her lungs as she gazed into his eyes.

_Why did he have to look so damn good…?_

"Rose. Don't you understand what I'm saying?" He sighed, and she felt the air gusting over her lips. "I love you."

"No," she breathed, still unwilling to give in.

"Yes," he replied, smiling now. "I love you, Rose Weasley, and I'm never letting you leave me again." He slid his arms around her waist, and Rose found herself letting him draw her closer.

"Really?" she asked breathlessly, hardly daring to believe in him.

His response was to bend his head, closing the last few inches between them, and press his lips to hers. "Yes," he said huskily, dipping his head back down for another kiss.

After several long moments, Rose pulled away, afraid she would pass out if she didn't breathe soon. "I can't believe it," she gasped. "You really do love me, don't you?"

"Yes," he said again, grinning at her and winking.

She danced around the room, hardly able to contain her joy. "This is really, happening, isn't it? This is real life?"

"Yep!" he laughed, holding out his arms for her. "Really real life, Rose!"

She leapt into his arms and he swung her about, both of them reveling in each other's nearness. Giggling, she nuzzled his face. "I love you so much, you stupid man."

"I love you too, Rose. And you know what the best part is?"

"What?" she asked, happily looking up into his eyes.

He bent down to whisper in her ear. "I've been assigned to complete your stakeout with you. I'll be staying up here until you leave, and we can go back to London together."

She laughed and hugged him. "That is definitely not the best part."

"Well, maybe not," he agreed. "I guess really, this is just the first week of forever.

Rose hummed contentedly, snuggling into his arms. "The first week of forever," she agreed, smiling.

**The End**

XXXX

**A/N:** Finished! At long last. Sorry I made you all wait so long, hope it was worth it in the end.

Not sure what you can expect from me in the coming weeks, but I'm hoping to finish another story or two before the end of the year. Thank you for your patience, everyone.

~Star


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